Tag Archives: junkyard

Yesterday, I drove to Los Lunas to take my National Instruments Certified LabVIEW Associate Developer (NI-CLAD) exam. I had passed this exam years ago, but had let my certification lapse. Since letting my certification lapse, the exam changed. I did not do well on the practice questions, so I was not hopeful…

I PASSED IT ANYWAY!

It was a good day. After I passed the exam, I started driving home, only to realize that I had left things in the locker at the test center and had to return to Los Lunas to get them.

It was still an okay day. I then went to the junkyard at the south end of Albuquerque to browse around for car parts. I did that until the pouring rain hit.

I attended the Rio Rancho Seventh Day Adventist prayer and reading group in the evening, where we studied a chapter of The Desire of Ages concerning the raising of Lazarus.

Today was a stressful day. I waited all day yesterday for the dishwasher to be installed. The guy never showed up, and so not only did I not run any errands yesterday, the dishwasher showed up today, amidst all of the errands that needed completion.

I started out the day going to the U-Pull-It junkyard. I found hubcaps, a sunvisor and a blower motor for the Malibu. I returned to the car and tried the sunvisor, but it doesn’t fit. I put all of the replacement hubcaps in place, though one of them fell off on the way home, so that didn’t help at all.

I love going to the junkyard. It’s like redneck yoga; you bendy and twisty all around and try to pull parts out of old cars. Because I drive a 2002 Malibu, there are dozens of cars that I can pull parts from, though common pieces to fail are gone on all of the cars.

After that, I dropped a radio off to be repaired at a local radio shop here in town. I talked to the guy for a few minutes; as it turns out, he used to live in Maryland as well, so we talked about Westminster a bit. He said he’d give me a call on Monday about the status of the radio.

After that, I returned home just in time to meet the dishwasher installation man. It is nice to have a new dishwasher. The pump died in our old one, and it just filled up with water. Speaking of which, there was some nasty water in the old one. I’m glad to get rid of that thing.

After that, I rushed back down to Carlisle and Silver for a classical music concert by the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra. I was late, but everything that they played was enjoyable. And a free concert- can’t argue there.

Anyway, it’s about time for bed. I have a graduation to attend tomorrow!

I was productive this morning. I churned out a storm prediction on my weather blog and did some housework. After that, I went to the junkyard to get a few parts for my car.

The junkyard is always an adventure for me. I love going there, and I get lost looking at all of the cars. Today, I stayed in the GM section (looking for parts for my 2002 Malibu), but wandered through the entire section. I managed to find the turn signal switch (the reason I went in the first place), and then left it in another car. I found another selector switch and a driver’s side headlight, which had been broken for almost a year (but cleverly covered with clear packaging tape).

I replaced both of these in the junkyard parking lot. I drove approximately two miles and stopped at Radio Shack to pick up some antenna connectors. A man there asked if I wanted my headlights cleaned, and so $20 later, I have sparkling clear, clean headlights.

I am starting to get tired, so I think I will get ready for bed. Sorry for the late o’clock post. I swear I will add photos some day.